Welcome, potheads, to the first edition of “Let Me Google That For You”! Being a tech-savvy Millennial, people constantly ask me questions that could easily be Googled. But unfortunately, not everyone knows how to Google, especially if they’ve had a bit of the Mary Jane, so I’m here to do it FOR you! Today’s Google Query:
“Health Effects of Marijuana”
I researched this all the way to page TWO of the Google results, that’s how committed I am, to you, the user. So potheads, let’s wipe away that crippling anxiety and find out once and for all,
IS MARIJUANA BAD FOR YOU?
First of all, here are the articles I used, in case you want to just go right to the source:
- http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana
- http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20121207/recreational-marijuana-health-effects
- https://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/alcohol,_tobacco,_&_other_drugs/marijuana.php
- https://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/alcohol,_tobacco,_&_other_drugs/marijuana.php
- http://www.csam-asam.org/adverse-effects-marijuana-healthcare-professionals
- http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/34110/title/Is-Cannabis-Really-That-Bad-/
Some key questions first. Are you under 18? Are you old? Do you have a heart condition? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then yes! Yes, it is bad! It increases your heart rate and blood pressure (a bit) for up to three hours after smoking, so if you have a heart condition, you’re at a greater risk of a heart attack. if you’re under 18 and your brain hasn’t finished developing yet, you definitely should not start smoking weed. According to DrugAbuse.gov, It:
- Reduces thinking, memory and learning function
- Affects how the brain builds connections
Another study in New Zealand showed that teens’ IQ points went down by 8 points when smoking regularly from 16 - 32 years old. However, another study countered saying that socio-economic factors could have played a part in the drop.
If you’re not a teen, though, the results are muddier. What about my twenty-something lungs? You may be asking. Drugabuse.gov says it irritates the lungs and can cause breathing problems like daily cough and phlegm. WebMD claims that marijuana has a three-fold increase of inhaled tar compared to tobacco. But in spite of that, a study showed that one joint a day for seven years did not show evidence of adverse effects on lung function. And a 2008 study suggested that “…smoking marijuana may reduce the risk of tobacco-associated lung cancer.” Concluding that people who “smoke both marijuana and tobacco have a lower risk of cancer than those who smoke only tobacco (though still at a higher risk than non-smokers).”
But even though it carries less of a cancer risk, the smoke irritates the lining of the respiratory tract, causing damage to the cells lining the bronchial passages, making it hard for your respiratory system to clear toxins and fight off microorganisms. Seems normal for inhaling smoke every day. But all of this lung stuff only applies to smoking it. Now there are many alternatives to smoking.
In terms of the cognitive effect, studies don’t definitively conclude anything, really. But here’s what I found out. According to Brown University, regular use compromises the ability to learn and to remember information by impairing the ability to focus, sustain and shift attention. Long-term use reduces the ability to organize and integrate complex information, impairs short term memory and decreases motivation to accomplish tasks. There was also less activity detected in brain regions involved in memory and attention, even after 28 days of abstinence.
According to the California Society of Addiction Medicine, “Some studies have shown that brain function recovers over time, while others demonstrate persistence of subtle, but important, impairments… By and large, most of the prominent brain effects of marijuana are short term and do in fact reverse when marijuana is discontinued. However, there is increasing evidence that subtle effects, such as slowed information processing, may actually persist long after discontinuation.” The effects are difficult to detect, though, because they may only become apparent in highly complex, demanding brain functions.
So, it seems like extremely complex thought processes are affected for a long time after stopping smoking, but these thought processes are so complex, they’re difficult to test for and detect. The Scientist.com suggests that users who begin in adulthood are “…generally unaffected“. Even further, “In addition to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a neurotoxic cannabinoid that is responsible for marijuana’s mind-altering properties, the drug also contains a variety of non-psychoactive cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD), which can protect against neuron damage.” Well that’s some good news!
But one more question lingers. Wait, what was it again? Oh right. Is weed addictive. According to drugabuse.org, 1 in 11 users become addicted to marijuana. That number goes up to 1 in 6 if you start as a teen and rockets up to 25-50% if you use it daily. CSAM says, “Withdrawal symptoms -- irritability, anxiety, sleep disturbances -- often contribute to relapse.”
So it’s addictive if you do it a lot, bad to start as a teen, and may impair extremely complex brain function well after discontinuing use. My main conclusion from reading all of these articles is that it’s up in the air. The only sure thing is that teenagers shouldn’t smoke it. In the end, The Scientist offers this view: “We’re not going to wake up tomorrow to the big discovery that marijuana causes major brain damage… We would have seen that by now.”
-Dan DeStefano